Phyllis Tickle speaks at United Church of Christ

The Ames community had the chance to meet Phyllis Tickle, an author, advocate and expert on the emerging church movement, when she spoke at the United Church of Christ on Saturday.

The Ames community had the chance to meet Phyllis Tickle, an author, advocate and expert on the emerging church movement, when she spoke at the United Church of Christ on Saturday.

Tickle, who has written more than 30 books, spoke about how Christianity is changing, and explained the new movement called "Emergence," which both Christianity and Judaism appear to be going through. In Tickle’s afternoon session, titled "Being Christian: How Now to Be the Church," she explained her ideas of how modern day Christians should approach the reformation she believes is occurring.

While Tickle opened the session with a question and answer segment, which ranged from topics like fixed-hour prayers to the process she took to write a few of her books, the majority of the discussion was spent detailing the newest movement in the Christian Church.

Tickle referred to the image of a tuning fork when describing the split between Judaism and Christianity and while she does not expect them to combine any time soon, a certain balance may occur.

"There are a number of reasons, probably, for the separation, but I think there are also a number of reasons for coming together," Tickle said. "Nobody says we’re ever going to come together again, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that, with the tuning fork image, that when you strike it on either one, they both resonate. The perfect pitch happens when they’re resonating together."

Tickle said situations like the current tuning fork reformation are not uncommon and can, in fact, be tracked roughly every 500 years.

"Where we are right now with Arab Spring and all the chaos going on in the Arab world is the exact analogy to what we did in Europe in the 15th Century," Tickle said. "Right now, we’ve got a tuning fork coming."

To have a successful reformation, Tickle said, the church is going to need scripture, a strong community and either the holy trinity or just the holy spirit, though she is unsure of how the third requirement will develop. Tickle also said the church will need to establish authority, and "decide who’s calling the shots, who decides what’s right and wrong."

Tickle said there will be three keys to going through the upcoming transition. The church will first need to develop theology that allows Christians to live in a world with other faiths and get along.

"We have to arrive at some sort of Christian understanding or doctrine or theology that allows us, as functioning and believing Christians, to live in a world that is composed of fellow citizens who are not Christian but who are practicing, devout members of other faiths that are antithetical to Christianity," Tickle said.

Tickle also said the church will need a new doctrine of atonement, but she is unsure of what that will be. But regardless, Tickle said it is important to establish one for the new emerging Christians.

But before any part of society listens to authority from the Christian church, Tickle said the group must first be able to define what a human being is, and how to define a soul. There have been several theories over the years, like defining a soul as "someone who can speak" or "someone who can think," but Tickle said each have eventually been disproven. While she is unsure of the answer, Tickle said an answer needs to be established to gain any kind of control.

"Who knows? But until we do, both society and the theology are totally hung, and I don’t see any way to immediately answer it," Tickle said. "But we have to know who we are."

But most importantly, Tickle said, was the idea that the Christian faith’s main purpose is to serve God through the transition.

"We’re not here to save UCC, we’re not here to save congregationalism, we are here to serve God," Tickle said, "and God is doing a new thing among us."

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